- EU regimes revive plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“EU countries including Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland are urging Brussels to renew efforts to leverage immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine, in response to fears that Kyiv faces a renewed funding crisis. Plans to fund Ukraine using more than €200bn in Russian central bank assets held in the EU under sanctions collapsed last winter as Belgium, where the majority are held, blocked the initiative. But a letter from a coalition of states to the European Commission will call on the EU’s executive to restart work on the concept, according to four people briefed on the document, and seek clarity on any progress in alternative legal and technical frameworks that could provide a solution to Belgium’s veto.” (08/27/26)
- Bitcoin researchers propose quantum fix that would not crowd out transactions
Source: CoinDesk
“Researchers at Blockstream, a bitcoin infrastructure firm whose engineers have contributed to the Bitcoin blockchain’s core software for more than a decade, published a proposal on Thursday for SHRINCS, a way of signing bitcoin transactions that could withstand quantum computers without sharply reducing the number of transactions that fit in a block. Bitcoin proves ownership using digital signatures built on a branch of mathematics known as elliptic-curve cryptography. Those signatures allow someone to prove they hold the private key controlling their bitcoin without revealing the key itself. But it is theorized that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer … could eventually break that protection. … The proposal comes as Ethereum researchers moved in the same direction earlier this week, proposing changes to the system validators use to deposit funds so it can eventually accept new types of cryptographic keys.” (08/27/26)
- Meta agrees to $17 billion bribe to settle state regimes’ frivolous lawsuit
Source: Politico
“Meta has reached a tentative $17 billion settlement with nearly all U.S. states that would also see the social media giant make sweeping changes to dramatically restrict minors’ access to Instagram and Facebook, the California Department of Justice announced Wednesday. The pending agreement is a monumental concession without precedent by one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful tech companies. It would end a pivotal trial over claims brought by California and more than two dozen other states that Meta intentionally hooked kids on its platforms, while misleading users about their potential harms. The deal would also resolve claims brought by other states and some U.S. territories in different proceedings.” (08/26/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/26/meta-kids-safety-features-settlement-01050418
- TX: Federal judge declines to order wanted gangland fugitive extradited to Minnesota
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A United States judge has denied a request to compel the extradition of a federal immigration agent charged with shooting a man during an immigration raid in the state of Minnesota and lying about it. Wednesday’s decision concerns the case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Christian Castro, who has been detained in a county jail in Texas since May. Under Texas law, the state cannot hold the subject of an extradition order for more than 90 days. At that point, the suspect must either be transferred or released. The deadline for Castro is set to expire on Thursday. Minnesota argued in a lawsuit this month that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has refused to authorise the extradition for political reasons. But in Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr wrote that he could not intervene because Abbott has not yet acted – and has therefore not yet violated any law.” (08/26/26)
- Tim Curry, 1946-2026
Source: The Guardian [UK]
‘Tim Curry, the versatile performer of screen and stage, who made his name as the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, has died aged 80. Reports say Curry died at his home in Los Angeles. The actor’s manager confirmed to Variety that he died peacefully. No cause of death is known as yet. … Born in 1946, he earned a degree in drama and English from the University of Birmingham in 1968 and embarked on a stage career. His first significant role was in the original cast for the first West End production of the controversial musical Hair, in 1968 …. Curry worked regularly in film …. Curry was also a regular presence on TV for more than four decades …. In 2012, Curry had a stroke while receiving a massage and received brain surgery. He was left with mobility issues and his short-term memory was also affected.” (08/26/26)
- US regime pauses immigrant visa appointments worldwide, says staff need training
Source: Washington Post
“The Trump administration has temporarily paused immigrant visa appointments worldwide, saying it needs time to train all consular staff on screening applicants who might become dependent on public benefits. Appointments for visa services at U.S. embassies were being ‘adjusted’ because of the ‘global training initiative’ launched this month, the State Department said in a statement. It did not say when the appointments would resume. … A former State Department official said immigrant visa appointments worldwide had been paused Monday through the end of the month. The training materials were being rolled out after a federal judge struck down the administration’s 75-country visa ban, which was framed as a way to prevent immigrants from entering who might use public benefits, on Friday.” (08/26/26)
- China: Artist handed 3-year prison term over satirical Mao artworks
Source: AOL
“A Chinese artist was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday for ‘infringing upon the reputation of heroes’ through satirical works of art, including statues of the country’s former leader Mao Zedong. The US-based Gao Zhen, who was part of an artistic duo known as the Gao Brothers, was arrested while visiting family in China in August 2024. He has been in custody ever since. He was sentenced by the Sanhei People’s Court court in northern Hebei province, according to his wife Zhao Yaliang. The charges against Gao relate to artistic works that China considers insulting to revolutionary figures. One such piece of work is a 2009 statue called Mao’s Guilt which shows the founder of modern China kneeling in repentance. Another is the Miss Mao series of caricatures depicting Mao with breasts and an engorged nose.” (08/26/26)
https://www.aol.com/articles/us-based-chinese-artist-handed-095536000.html
- Myanmar: Thai woman suspected in death of US diplomat gets 1-year prison term
Source: SFGate
“A Thai woman accused of killing her ex-husband, a U.S. diplomat, has been sentenced to one year in prison for violating Myanmar’s immigration laws, but she still might go to trial for murder, a lawyer familiar with her case said Wednesday. The court in Yangon’s Kamayut township on Tuesday found Pavinee Supasirivisan guilty under a provision applying to any foreign national who commits a crime in the country, according to the lawyer. The charge carries a sentence ranging from six months to five years, the lawyer said on condition of anonymity to avoid possible repercussions from Myanmar’s military-backed government, which exercises tight control over information. Pavinee is being held at Insein Prison. Neither U.S. nor Myanmar officials have publicly named the dead man, but the New York Post and other Western media have identified him as 43-year-old Daniel Paul Riva, who served as a U.S. State Department assistant regional security officer.” (08/26/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/a-thai-woman-suspected-in-myanmar-death-of-us-22404396.php
- UK: Inquest opens into death of ex-Cambridge University professor Jason Arday
Source: ABC News
“An inquest opened Wednesday into the sudden death earlier this month of Jason Arday, a Cambridge University professor who faced a storm of plagiarism accusations. Arday, 41, who became Cambridge’s youngest [b]lack professor in 2023, was found dead at an address in south London on Aug. 13, days after he resigned his post as professor of sociology of education following intense media scrutiny of his credentials and many of the other claims he had made about his accomplishments outside of academia. The inquest opened with a short hearing at London Inner South Coroner’s Court. Any deaths in the U.K. that are deemed to exhibit uncertainties of one form or another are investigated by a coroner.” (08/26/26)
- US mortgage rates hit highest level in 3 weeks, weakening demand further
Source: CNBC
“Mortgage interest rates moved even higher last week, causing demand for loans to weaken yet again. Total mortgage application volume dropped 1% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of up to $832,750 increased last week to 6.78% from 6.77% the prior week, with points rising to 0.66 from 0.65, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. That is the highest level in three weeks. Applications to refinance a home loan, which are most sensitive to weekly rate moves, fell 2% for the week. They were 17% lower than the same week one year ago, when rates were 9 basis points lower.” (08/26/26)
- At least eight killed, hundreds missing after Nepal flash flood
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Nepal sent helicopters to the rescue after a huge flash flood swept away villages, killing at least eight people and damaging roads, bridges and power projects in areas near Tibet, authorities said. Officials said 384 tourists, including 291 from countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, India and Malaysia were reported missing as a result of the flash flood on Wednesday. The waters were too high for helicopters to land in Nepal’s affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, with a population of about 50,000, officials said. … Across the border, Tibet reported ‘major casualties’ with people missing in the neighbouring county of Gyirong after a mudslide hit a land crossing between China and Nepal, the Xinhua official news agency said.” (08/26/26)
- Canada surpasses California as largest cannabis market in the world
Source: SFGate
“California’s leaders love to brag about the state’s legal cannabis market being the largest in the world. Even when the legal market has shown deep problems and dysfunction, leaders could say that at least California was still No. 1. However, that no longer appears to be true. Canada’s federal government released data last week showing that its June sales totaled $517.8 million Canadian dollars, or about $374.5 million in U.S. dollars. That’s more than the $372.4 million that California sold the same month, according to the Department of Cannabis Control, meaning California has lost its superlative status. The two markets have some clear differences, notably that Canada is an entire country while California is a state. But both have similar populations; California has 39.5 million people while Canada has 41.4 million, and the differences have not stopped California’s leaders from making the international comparison in the past.” (08/26/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/california-falling-cannabis-market-22401030.php
- District court judge rules Texas drag show ban unconstitutional
Source: United Press International
“A U.S. district court has blocked Texas from banning drag performances as unconstitutional, ruling that the solution to the problem is for those who find such events offensive to just not attend. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 12 into law in June 2023 to ban ‘sexually oriented performances’ via civil penalties on businesses that host them and criminal penalties on performers. It has been debated in the courts since, with a court ruling it unconstitutional in 2023 and an appeals court in February allowing it to take effect while sending the case back to the district court for review. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner, a Reagan appointee who issued the 2023 ruling, declared Senate Bill 12 an unconstitutional restriction on speech and ordered that the state be permanently enjoined from enforcing it.” (08/26/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/08/26/judge-blocks-Texas-drag-ban/1651787727211/
- Swiss to Vote on Whether to Tighten Neutrality, End Peacetime Cooperation With NATO
Source: US News & World Report
“Swiss voters will decide in a referendum next month whether to approve a more restrictive form of neutrality that would block their country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO. Posters featuring doves of peace and asking voters to reject war have appeared across the Alpine nation in a campaign that has won the backing of the Kremlin but has raised fears that it could isolate Switzerland from its European neighbours. Opinion surveys suggest voters will reject the proposal …. Swiss neutrality, internationally recognised since 1815 and part of the country’s constitution since 1848, kept Switzerland out of both world wars. But this status is under threat after Switzerland imposed sanctions on Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, said Christoph Blocher, a veteran politician and backer of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) which supports the campaign.” (08/26/26)
- TX: Talarico wants to unearth Paxton’s depositions to keep focus on opponent’s past in Senate race
Source: SFGate
“James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, wants to reveal depositions involving Ken Paxton, his Republican opponent, as part of an ongoing effort to keep the focus on Paxton’s history of scandals. The depositions involve a civil case where Unity Resources, a mineral assets company, was accused of fraud. Paxton was connected to Unity but not a defendant, and the case was settled. Talarico’s campaign confirmed it asked a court on Wednesday to release the documents. The Democratic state representative is counting on voters recoiling from past accusations against Paxton, the Texas attorney general, even though similar tactics have failed in previous campaigns. … Talarico also has talked about how Paxton was impeached, although Paxton was later acquitted, and how he faced criminal charges for securities fraud, which ended with an agreement with prosecutors involving restitution payments but no admission of guilt.” (08/26/26)
- Trump regime violated court order on attempt to rig elections using USPS, judge says
Source: Axios
“A Massachusetts judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration violated a nationwide injunction by finalizing a rule that would significantly overhaul mail voting if allowed to take effect. The order allows the Trump administration to publish the rule Wednesday, but the U.S. Postal Service remains barred from making the dramatic changes to mail-in ballots. … Tuesday’s ruling came in response to a motion from the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts asking Talwani to enforce her nationwide injunction blocking the new mail-ballot rules. The injunction bars the administration from directing USPS to reject ballot mail that doesn’t comply with the administration’s new design requirements until after the 2026 midterms.” (08/25/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/25/usps-mail-voting-rule-injunction
- German airport worker dies of malaria after “mosquito arrives on plane”
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A Frankfurt Airport worker has died of malaria after a rare outbreak led to six employees contracting the serious infection spread by mosquitoes. It is believed the mosquitoes arrived at Germany’s busiest airport on a plane, according to German public health officials. The remaining five infected individuals are receiving medical treatment, a spokesperson for airport operator Fraport said. Traps have been installed at the airport and mosquitoes captured will be analysed in a laboratory to determine their species and origin. ‘Sadly, we must confirm that one employee has died as a result of the infection,’ the Fraport spokesperson told the BBC. ‘We have provided comprehensive information to all employees and encourage them to consult a doctor if they experience any symptoms.'” (08/26/26)
- Pakistan: Hospital fire kills 14 newborns
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“A fire erupted early Wednesday in a nursery for newborns at a major government hospital in Pakistan’s capital, killing 14 babies, according to hospital officials and the government. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad housed at least 15 newborns in the nursery from the fire that began about 6:45 a.m. local time after an air-conditioning unit compressor exploded inside the nursery on the third floor, hospital and rescue officials said. The fire was confined to the nursery in the gynecology ward, while the rest of the hospital remained unaffected and there were no other injuries reported, according to hospital officials and witnesses. Television footage showed rescue workers using ladders to reach the area through broken windows.” (08/26/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/fire-pakistan-hospital-newborns-9.7320737
- Testimony concludes in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial; Jury to hear closing arguments Thursday
Source: SFGate
“Trial testimony concluded Wednesday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a mother accused of strangling her three young children in a case that has drawn attention to postpartum mental health. Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday, before the jury begins deliberating. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, with her lawyers arguing she was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan Clancy at the family’s home in coastal Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. The rare mental illness is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.” (08/26/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/fbi-psychiatrist-returns-as-lindsay-clancy-murder-22404308.php
- OK: Trump-backed Mazzei defeats Drummond in GOP gubernatorial runoff
Source: The Hill
“Former state Sen. Mike Mazzei (R) is projected to defeat state Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) in the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma governor — a win for President Trump who backed Mazzei in the contest, according to Decision Desk HQ. Drummond and Mazzei, a financial planner, were vying for the GOP nod to succeed term-limited Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). It’s a critical victory for Trump after several of his initial primary picks in Iowa, Georgia, Minnesota, South Carolina and Wyoming lost their elections earlier this year, raising questions about the power of the president’s endorsement.” (08/25/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6042137-mazzei-wins-oklahoma-gop-runoff/
- “A Deal Written in Pencil”: Tariffs Are Erasing America’s Credibility
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert“Hours after the trade negotiations collapsed and the United States imposed a 50-percent tariff on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods on August 22, Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, stood before reporters and told them what lesson Canada had drawn from 18 months of dealing with Washington. In his words, Canada understood that America ‘would put a series of tariffs on its closest allies and use economic integration as a weapon. That its signature was written in pencil.’ … Tariff rates can be haggled over and retaliation can be unwound, but a signature written in pencil means that there is no real reason for anyone to negotiate, because there is no commitment. Canada did not arrive at this position quickly. It got there the hard way, by giving Washington what it asked for three times and watching a trade deal spearheaded by the very same man evaporate and be replaced by new tariffs.” (08/26/26)
- It’s 2026. End the car registration sticker ritual already.
Source: Washington Post
by Scott Hodge“In the digital age, are car stickers really necessary? They aren’t a requirement for other taxes. Imagine having to affix a sticker to the window of your home to signify that you’d paid your property taxes. Or be required to wear a lapel pin on April 15 as a public symbol that you’d paid your income taxes. … Car stickers and decals are an obsolete and costly vestige of an age when automobiles shared the road with horse-drawn carriages. If repealing such requirements means fewer city workers at the DMV replacing stickers by hand, well, welcome to the modern age.” (08/26/26)
- CDs vs. NIMBY
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“I have a massive collection of music CDs, about 4,000 in total. Over the years, I probably spent about $40,000 acquiring them. Now, thanks to streaming, they’re virtually worthless. While perusing the used CD section at Amoeba Music (both the LA and Berkeley locations), I discovered that most of my discs now retail for about $3. I doubt Amoeba would pay me $1 a disc, assuming they’d take them at all. Applying familiar NIMBY logic, you might insist that streaming ‘hollowed me out.’ Sure, kids can now enjoy unlimited music free of charge. But I’m $40,000 poorer. A victim of cruel progress. A clear-cut ‘loser.’ If I had zero interest in listening to any new-to-me music, that would be a fair, if self-pitying, verdict. Fortunately, I am not dead inside.” (08/26/26)
- Our Enemy Is Here
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Trump’s trade war inflicts harm not only on Canadian citizens but also on the American people. Tariffs are simply sales taxes on the purchase of foreign goods. It is American consumers who ultimately pay those taxes. … There are, of course, those Americans who innocently and naively continue to believe that our enemies are Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, the communists, the terrorists, the Muslims, the drug cartels, the illegal immigrants, and other scary official boogeymen. Those Americans are flat-out wrong. They are living in la-la land. The enemy of the American people is the U.S. government. Not only is it plundering and looting Americans, regulating and controlling the most minute aspects of their lives, and making life much more expensive, it is also making life more dangerous, oppressive, and precarious for them.” (08/26/26)
- Tribes, Coalitions, Parties
Source: Liberalism.org
by Janet Bufton“In liberal politics, principles act as coordination points around which activism can bubble up and coalitions can form. But coalitions take different forms, and these forms affect how the ideas of a coalition’s members are shaped within and by their collaboration. Fellow Liberalism.org contributor Matt Zwolinski recently emphasized that ‘tribes,’ notionally formed by family, peers, or shared core values, may significantly define the ideas of their members. While this is true for most members of any political coalition, I want to explore how the form a coalition takes affects the ideas that it encourages its members to adopt.” (08/26/26)
- A new civic tone for America’s “town halls”
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“Like many people, members of Congress ease off on work during their August recess – but not entirely. That time has also traditionally been an opportunity to listen to voters back home – often through town halls. This summer, however, the number of legislators scheduling such events has declined 75% from a decade ago. In 2016, more than 170 lawmakers held August town halls, The Washington Post has reported; this summer, only 42 scheduled one. These civic encounters have been part of American life since well before the United States existed. At some gatherings, recorded as early as 1633, residents voted on decisions affecting their communities; at others, they shared views and debated issues.” (08/25/26)
- Our Obsession With Being “Special” Is Making Us Miserable — And There’s a Cure
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein“We can all recall a time when we put ourselves at the center of the universe. We may have felt frustration when the traffic on the highway didn’t part like the Red Sea. We may have become indignant while sitting in a crowded physician’s waiting room, not knowing a genuine emergency has caused the delay. Most people we encounter today will treat us like the ordinary person we are. Meeting our goals may be the most important thing in the world to us, but not to them.” (08/26/26)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/our-obsession-with-being-special
- Prepare for Trump to Try to Steal the Midterms
Source: The Bulwark
by Mona Charen“The GOP is the party that fought against certifying Joe Biden’s victory. And it is the party that continues to buy into Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election having been stolen from him. Nothing should be considered inconceivable. It’s in our hands.” (08/26/26)
- All It Takes Is One Crack In The Lie We’ve Been Sold
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“I saw a clip going around from the Netflix series ‘1899’ where a woman discovers a crack in the screen of what she had taken to be her world, causing her entire understanding of reality to crumble before her eyes. Someone had captioned the clip, ‘Every awakening begins with a fracture in the lie.’ Yeah. It does tend to happen like that. You start pulling on one thread and then the whole thing unravels. Maybe you start with the Iraq war lies. Maybe 9/11. These days for a lot of folks it’s Palestine. You keep pulling on that thread, uncovering more and more uncomfortable truths, until eventually you discover that pretty much everything you’ve been taught about your world was a lie. Every war. Everything about how your government really operates. Everything you’ve been told about nations and how they work.” (08/26/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/26/all-it-takes-is-one-crack-in-the-lie-weve-been-sold/
- Brendan Carr’s Vendetta Against ABC Conflates the “Public Interest” With Trump’s Personal Grievances
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum“President Donald Trump has been threatening to yank the licenses of broadcasters who irk him since his first term. But this time around, the FCC’s Trump-appointed chairman, Brendan Carr, seems eager to act on that vindictive impulse. Carr portrays the ABC review as a response to ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ programs that may qualify as ‘unlawful discrimination.’ But he has made it clear that the FCC also is considering the broader question of whether ABC’s stations are serving ‘the public interest,’ a vague statutory mandate that he views as a license to override freedom of the press.” (08/26/26)
- $50 trillion in debt not a distant threat, America is speeding towards it
Source: Fox News
by Ted Jenkin“In the 1999 movie ‘The Matrix’, Agent Smith hears a train approaching and delivers one of the iconic movie lines: ‘That is the sound of inevitability.’ America, listen closely. Our national debt just blew through $40 trillion, and unless Washington dramatically changes course, that train has another destination coming into view very quickly. $50 trillion. Yes, $50 trillion. But wait! There’s more! It could happen by 2030. Yes, by 2030. This isn’t a Republican problem. It isn’t a Democratic problem. It’s now an American math problem. The Congressional Budget Office projects a federal deficit of approximately $1.9 trillion in 2026. But that’s hardly the end of it. CBO projects deficits totaling more than $23 trillion from 2026 through 2035. Think about that.” (08/26/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/50-trillion-debt-not-distant-threat-america-speeding-towards-it
- Profiting from Government Didn’t Begin with Trump
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe“In total, the Trump family is estimated to have made over $2 billion since Trump returned to office. … It is understandable why most Americans find this upsetting, especially after Trump launched a war that predictably raised gas prices for a population already struggling with a years-long inflation crisis. … Trump is visibly using his power to make his own family richer while his policies leave most American families worse off. But the key word there is visibly. Because the truth is that, despite what establishment Trump critics want us to think, Trump did not bring this kind of ‘corruption’ to the White House; he’s just not trying as hard to hide it. This is what states do. And it’s what they have always done.” (08/26/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/profiting-government-didnt-begin-trump
- SCOTUS Mail Voting Ruling Is Manufactured Chaos
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Michael Waldman“In November, we should be able to have elections that are free, fair, and secure. But it will take a lot of work between now and then. We saw that for sure this week. On Monday, the Supreme Court made headlines and sowed confusion, but it did not change much. Here’s what you should know. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to upend mail voting. That is the way 1 in 3 Americans vote. Trump purported to order the US Postal Service to refuse to deliver lawfully cast ballots unless the voter is on a list (which doesn’t exist yet) created by each state and sent to the post office for checking against mail ballots. It’s absurd. And, no surprise, it’s illegal.” (08/25/26)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/noise-and-confusion-supreme-court
- The Truth About Data Centers
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Stephen Weese“You probably haven’t heard of too many examples of successful data center developments, and that’s partly because ‘something worked; everything is just fine’ is not a common news story. However, CNN recently reported on exactly that: Quincy, Washington, is home to over 30 data centers and has experienced an incredible boom as a result. The data centers now cover an estimated 57% of Quincy’s property tax revenue, funding a wave of public infrastructure projects: a $15 million aquatic center, a 143,000-square-foot indoor sports complex, a $120 million high school, a new hospital, library, police and fire stations, paved sidewalks, sewage systems, and a wastewater treatment plant. Residential electricity rates in the county rose 3.5% last year, while large industrial users, such as the data centers themselves, absorbed a 9.1% increase. The data centers there are paying for their own added infrastructure and generation costs rather than spreading those costs to households.” (08/26/26)
- Four Forms of Numericide
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels“Now the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and BMI, threatening to strike you down in your healthy middle age unless you submit to the testing, treating (ie: medications and lifestyle changes), and a retesting paradigm which can lead many to become obsessed by the numbers. By the way, these four measures have one thing in common: They are typically treated with a prescribing pen that has been carefully guided in your doctor’s expert hands by the helpful people in the pharmaceutical industry. Just saying …” (08/26/26)
- Democrats Are Making a Run a Red State Senate Seats
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye“The midterm election is a little more than two months away, and voters who spent the summer tuning out politics are beginning to pay attention. Campaign advertising is picking up, candidates are settling into their general-election messages, and the small number of voters who haven’t already chosen a side are starting to take a closer look at the people asking for their votes. They don’t particularly like what they see. Nearly two-thirds of voters believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. Trump’s approval rating remains underwater, Democrats hold a roughly 6-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, and Republicans are now defending Senate seats in states that shouldn’t be competitive.” (08/26/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/democrats-are-making-a-run-a-red
- Trump wants to stabilize Libya. Militants have other plans.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Khaled Mahmoud“A series of crises have roiled Libya over the last month, undermining a U.S.-led initiative to resolve the country’s profound political predicament and open its markets to American investment. Violent protests over deteriorating living conditions have surged in western cities under the control of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, just as a series of drone strikes have hit energy and oil facilities in the city of Zawia, west of Tripoli. In the east near Benghazi, which is under the authority of strongman Khalifa Haftar, unknown assailants assassinated Major General Fawzi al-Mansouri, Haftar’s head of military intelligence. This chaotic stretch of events prompted the U.S. to belatedly recognize that the deteriorating security situation could undermine its peace initiative.” (08/26/26)
- Carville Releases His Signature Uncut Product to a Nation of Rage Addicts
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“In Breaking Bad, the character Walter White explains to a major drug dealer why cheaper knockoffs of his signature Blue Sky methamphetamine are just not enough: ‘So… it’s grade-school tee-ball vs. the New York Yankees. Yours is just some tepid… off-brand, generic cola. What I’m making is classic Coke.’ This week, James Carville released his own uncut, undiluted classic product to a nation of rage addicts. Blue Sky rage. What set off Carville was telling. He and others were outraged that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner to discuss areas of common ground. Such dialogue ‘with the enemy’ is unthinkable in an ‘age of rage’, particularly for someone like Carville who previously threatened that, once Democrats are back in power, Trump supporters would be treated the same way as Nazi collaborators after World War II.” (08/26/26)
- Isn’t the free part of free market capitalism so lovely?
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“It is wholly true that there is no such thing as a ‘free market’. All interactions between humans are intermediated by culture, the law, geography, language and so on and so on. Which is why we neoliberal types normally don’t mean that version of free. Rather, we mean a market that someone is free to enter. You’ve got a new idea, can you set up and try it out? Yes, obviously, there will be constraints, can you gain finance, planning permission, find the staff and on and on. But all of these things run along a spectrum, we can talk of markets that are freer to enter than others. And, our – most neoliberal, we confess – contention is that the freer to enter the more such markets will serve consumers.” (08/26/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/isnt-the-free-part-of-free-market-capitalism-so-lovely
- Why Iran Might Escalate
Source: Foreign Policy
by Saeid Jafari“It now appears that instead of continuing bombing campaigns, the United States is relying on economic warfare and a naval blockade to secure Tehran’s capitulation. For Washington, this would minimize the risk to its forces and the pressure on its munitions stockpiles. For Tehran, in turn, this disparity of costs represents a challenge. As a result, Iranian political and military figures have called for Iran to respond with a more offensive military doctrine. They argue that Iran should now take steps to change the situation and make the United States pay much more for keeping the blockade in place.” (08/26/26)
- Why Warrantless Flock Safety Cameras Threaten American Freedom and How Local Towns Can Fix It
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“This year, 136 communities have rejected or banned the technology, and citizens are outraged, as evidenced by over two dozen states taking direct action against 193 camera installations. Mass surveillance fails the practical test because it treats every law-abiding neighbor as a perpetual suspect while government expands the network with automated police drones. Genuine public safety depends on focused, accountable law enforcement rather than dragnet data collection.” (08/26/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-warrantless-flock-safety-cameras
- The GOP midterm convention is for an audience of one. Trump.
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan“Some political pitches are more challenging than others. And some, like the pitch the Republican Party will try to make to midterm voters in two weeks, are damn near impossible. The Republican National Committee is hosting a ‘midterm convention’ on Sept. 9 and 10 in Dallas ‘to celebrate the accomplishments of President Donald J. Trump, showcase the strength of the Republican Party and its slate of candidates, and unite Americans around a bold vision for the future.’ If that sounds disconnected from reality, then you are probably in close touch with reality. Trump is so deeply unpopular that the convention platform and attention that he clearly covets could backfire for his party. … This is the state of the Republican Party, distorted by Trump into his own MAGA image, always boasting with blustering bunk, always eager to deny the truth that everyone can see and hear.” (08/26/26)
- The US military is at war with its own newspaper
Source: Expression
by Jacob Gaba“At the height of World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower didn’t want the military’s independent newspaper to become a propaganda tool. He expected his subordinates to keep their ‘hands off’ Stars and Stripes. More than 80 years later, the Pentagon has fired the newspaper’s leaders after they publicly defended that very principle. Last week, the Pentagon fired Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, for ‘insubordination.’ Slavin says he was fired for telling CBS in a recent interview that it would be a ‘red line’ if the government told him, ‘Don’t run a perfectly accurate story. Run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon.'” (08/26/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-us-military-is-at-war-with-its
- Can Democrats Take Advantage of How Much Everyone Hates Trump’s Iran War?
Source: Common Dreams
by Tom Gallagher“Amidst the tragifarce of President Donald Trump’s apparently off-the-top-of-his-head war on Iran may lie a silver lining for the 2028 presidential election—a silver lining that comes with two big ifs. One, of course, is the if that goes with everything involved with the race: If there is a fair election. The if specific to the hoped-for silver lining is if there is a candidate willing and able to make use of it. Ever since Gallup started public opinion polls, when it has come to questions of war, they’ve shown the American public favoring every one at the start, until now, with Donald Trump launching the first war to encounter immediate objection from a majority of the American public.” (08/26/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/can-democrats-ever-be-the-anti-war-party
- Friendship With America Can Be Fatal
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider“Henry Kissinger famously (if apocryphally) said, ‘It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.’ This may be the year the world finally got the message. President Donald Trump said he wanted his legacy to be ‘the wars that we end—and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.’ It won’t be. Instead, he will be remembered by history as the president who squandered trust in and respect for Washington and brought the post–Cold War era of American hegemony to an end.” (08/26/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/friendship-with-trumps-america-can-be-fatal/
- Hume’s Political Mechanisms
Source: Law & Liberty
by Aaron Alexander Zubia“David Hume thought philosophically about politics. If he had not, John Witherspoon, the Princeton educator who taught a future president, a future vice president, as well as future judges, senators, and representatives, would not have recommended his writings to his students. Thomas Reid, the Scottish philosopher, would not have developed an entire system of thought—taught in Scotland and the United States for the next century—as a direct response to Hume. Theologians, such as Jonathan Edwards, and college presidents, such as Timothy Dwight, Edwards’ grandson, would not have wrestled with and publicly commented on Hume’s philosophy. Had Hume not thought philosophically about politics, we would not be reading about him today.” (08/26/26)
- The Dollar Was Always the Leash
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Karat“In 2014 the French bank BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to processing transactions for Iran, Cuba, and Sudan and paid an $8.9 billion settlement, its dollar-clearing business barred for a year. No French court convicted it. No French statute was broken. A European institution was fined nearly nine billion dollars by a foreign government for conduct that was legal where it occurred. Every treasurer in every bank outside the United States understood the message, and has behaved accordingly ever since. It was not meant to be this. When the dollar emerged from the last world war as the axis of global settlement, its dominance was a matter of commercial convenience—the currency everyone happened to hold because everyone else held it too. Convenience hardened into infrastructure, and infrastructure, in the hands of a state that noticed what it possessed, hardened into leverage.” (08/26/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-dollar-was-always-the-leash
- Why Iran Ruffles the Feathers of the United States
Source: Antiwar.com
by M Reza Behnam“Strip away the diplomatic briefings, Congressional hearings and the endless cable news loops about centrifuges, regional proxies and cyber attacks, and you hit a raw unvarnished nerve. What truly disturbs the United States about the Islamic Republic is not its policies, its rhetoric or even its nuclear ambitions. It is Iran’s audacity to exist completely outside the American orbit; and make it work.” (08/26/26)
- Hong Kong Shows How a Free Society Can Become a Dictatorship
Source: American Greatness
by Sasha Gong“Can communism come to America? Until recently, most Americans would have dismissed the question as alarmist, even absurd. The United States has enjoyed constitutional government for nearly 250 years. Its citizens are accustomed to elections, private property, free speech, independent courts, and a press that openly challenges those in power. Surely, many assume, a people raised in freedom would never tolerate dictatorship. The rapid rise of Democratic Socialism has made the question less theoretical. The movement draws strength from the same seductive promise that has accompanied every socialist and communist experiment: government can eliminate inequality by taking greater control over economic life and redistributing wealth more justly. Anyone with even limited knowledge of communist history knows what follows. Equality is promised, but scarcity is delivered. The old upper class is denounced, but a new political class emerges with privileges unavailable to ordinary citizens.” (08/26/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/26/hong-kong-shows-how-a-free-society-can-become-a-dictatorship/
- Exorbitant and Rising Debt Is a National Security Threat
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland“The average voter, from personal experience or attempted avoidance thereof, is probably aware that excessive debt is bad, but he or she may be less clear about its deleterious national economic consequences. Even less obvious are the national security ramifications.” (08/25/26)
- The Trump Trainwreck
Source: Liberal Currents
by Nicholas Grossman“The president’s choices at home and abroad are boosting Democrats’ chances in November.” (08/26/26)
- The Supreme Court needs to remind Trump he has no power over elections
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Erwin Chemerinsky“The Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday allowing President Trump’s executive order on mail voting to go forward is stunningly insensitive to the context: Trump is trying to exercise control over elections when he has absolutely no authority to do so. In one sense, the justices decided nothing, simply saying it was too soon for federal courts to get involved. But in a more important way, the court could have and should have put an emphatic end to the president’s efforts to try to regulate voting operations that are legally the domain of state governments.” (08/25/26)
- The Data Center Backlash Is Just a New Moral Panic
Source: The Dispatch
by Jonah Goldberg“Not all concerns about data centers are so crazy or even unreasonable. They do use a lot of water, though not nearly as much as some claim. They can cause electricity rates to go up. They’re ugly. And, if you’re freaking out about what AI will do to your job or to American society, taking it out on data centers makes a certain amount of sense. Politicians, as a class, tend to indulge moral panics. Which is why it’s no surprise that Republicans and Democrats alike are racing to get on the ‘right’ side of the issue.” (08/26/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/data-centers-artificial-intelligence-moral-panic/
- Government Intervention in the Energy Market
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Avery Frank“A few weeks ago, the City of St. Louis issued a proposal that would require new data center developments to use renewable energy for their operations, among many other requirements. There is now a conditional waiver process to sidestep the renewable requirement if the developer can prove they and Ameren can’t meet it, which is a slight improvement. From a free-market perspective, the flaws of the proposal are clear. The city would be selecting certain types of energy (in this case solar and wind) in the name of ‘clean air’ while excluding from consideration not only energy from coal and natural gas, but even nuclear energy, which also has zero emissions.” (08/25/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/energy/government-intervention-in-the-energy-market/
- The House Always Wins, Even on House-less Kalshi
Source: The American Prospect
by Eleanor Davis-Diver“‘In casinos, the house always wins. With Kalshi, there is no house. We don’t win when our customers lose,’ the nation’s leading prediction market states on its FAQ page, differentiating itself from traditional sports betting. According to its proponents, prediction markets operate on a ‘peer-to-peer’ structure where, instead of a house, the ‘counterparty’ on a bet is another regular person, just like you or me. ‘Unlike sportsbooks Kalshi doesn’t set the odds, other users do’, claims an ad spot currently playing across television and digital platforms, featuring the world’s longest sandwich. These other ‘users’ are known as market makers, a common feature of financial markets, who continuously quote prices for everyone else to ensure consistent liquidity and smooth trading. But contrary to what the advertisement implies, most market makers are not ordinary people but highly advanced trading institutions.” (08/26/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/26/house-always-wins-kalshi-prediction-markets/
- So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, episode 280
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Social media, speech, and kids w/ Joel Thayer and Kate Ruane.” (08/26/26)
- The Daily, 08/26/26
Source: New York Times
“The Stunning Rise of the Democratic Socialists of America.” (08/26/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/26/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Fury at Canada Takes Unhinged Turn—and Backfires Badly for Him.” (08/26/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/214744/trump-fury-canada-takes-unhinged-turn-and-backfires-badly
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/26/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“War On Terror? Trump Pulls Syrian Al-Qaeda From US Terror List.” (08/26/26)
- Rising, 08/26/26
Source: The Hill
“Data centers gain massive support — they don’t waste water!” (08/26/26)
- Checks & Balances, 08/26/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“Yuval Levin joins Gregg Nunziata to discuss the Constitution, why institutions matter, and why AI may offer shortcuts but rob us of the process of formation.” (08/26/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/congresss-core-role-is-negotiation
- Interview: Former Strikers Start Cooperative News Organization
Source: In These Times
by Maximillian Alvarez“When workers at the historic Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper hit the picket line in October of 2022, they had no idea that they would be on strike for more than three years — or that the strike would end with new owners taking over the paper and most of the former strikers losing their jobs. But now, a new chapter is being written. This week, workers and community supporters launched the cooperative news organization, the Pittsburgh Progress, which aims to uplift the voices of working-class communities. Working People’s Maximillian Alvarez sat down with several former strikers at the Post-Gazette (now worker-owners of the Progress) to discuss what the birth of the Progress means for working people in and beyond Pittsburgh.” (08/25/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/former-strikers-start-cooperative-news-organization
- Reason Interview: Vinay Prasad
Source: Reason
“Vinay Prasad discusses his departure from the FDA, Fauci’s diaries, and how working for the government made him more libertarian.” (08/26/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/26/vinay-prasad-public-health-in-this-country-is-so-broken/
- The Headlines, 08/26/26
Source: New York Times
“Hegseth’s Army Purge, and Polling Chaos in the Midterms.” (08/26/26)
- Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 167
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“2nd Amendment Is About More Than Guns.” (08/25/26)
https://rumble.com/v7elh4o-2nd-amendment-is-about-more-than-guns-gracearchy-with-jim-babka-16x.html
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/26/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Linguists Are Nihilists | Interview: Colin Gorrie.” (08/26/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/linguists-are-nihilists-interview-colin-gorrie/
- Nonzero, 08/25/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Demis Hassabis and the Quest for AGI | Robert Wright & Sebastian Mallaby.” (08/25/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 08/26/26
Source: Washington Post
“The hidden forces behind America’s baby bust.” (08/26/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/the-hidden-forces-behind-americas-baby-bust/
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 08/25/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos joins me for our weekly conversation and we’re both quickly tiring of living under the watchful eye of big brother and his helpers. The excuse of ‘I’m not doing anything illegal’ is small comfort when the definition of illegal changes according to whomever is in power.” (08/25/26)
- LPA Solidarity Stream, episode 21
Source: LP Alliance
“David Beito, Phil Saunders, and their proposal for thinking outside the one-or-two-state paradigm.” (08/25/26)
- Rising, 08/25/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed appearing to distance himself from recent comments made by leftist streamer Hasan Piker.” (08/25/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/25/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Tulsi Was Right On Iran. Trump Ignored Her.” (08/25/26)
- Trump Watch, 08/25/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Evil of Economic War on Iran.” (08/25/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/trump-watch-the-evil-of-economic-war-on-iran/
- Politics Politics Politics, 08/25/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Is Darlene Graham Already Done in South Carolina? US Hackers vs. Foreign Gangs (with Eric Geller).” (08/25/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/is-darlene-graham-already-done-in
- Tim Shorrock on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott brings Tim Shorrock back on the show to dig into the latest developments between Trump and the leaders of both South Korea and North Korea.” (08/25/26)